‘Get ahead, stay ahead,’ the Harbaugh way

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Jack Harbaugh (right), father of Ravens coach John Harbaugh (left) and 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, was on hand for his sons’ first NFL matchup on Nov. 24, 2011. And he’ll be in New Orleans when John and Jim face off again in the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

Associated Press

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Jim and John Harbaugh have exchanged a handful of text messages and plan to leave it at that. No phone conversations necessary while the season’s still going. No time for pleasantries, even for the friendly siblings.

There is work to be done to prepare for the Super Bowl, prepare for each other, prepare for a history-making day already being widely hyped as “Harbowl” or “Superbaugh,” depending on which you prefer.

“It doesn’t matter who the coach is, what relationship you have with the person on the other side,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said matter-of-factly Monday afternoon.

Their parents sure aren’t picking sides for the Feb. 3 matchup in New Orleans.

These days, the Harbaughs’ longtime coaching father, Jack, stays away from game-planning chatter or strategy sessions with his Super Bowl-bound coaching sons. Baltimore’s John Harbaugh and little brother Jim have been doing this long enough now to no longer need Dad’s input.

Yet they still regularly seek it. And their father does offer one basic mantra: “Get ahead, stay ahead.”

“Probably the greatest advice that I’ve ever been given and the only advice that I’ve ever found to be true in all of coaching, I think we mentioned it to both John and Jim … the coaching advice is, ‘Get ahead, stay ahead,’ ” Jack Harbaugh said.

“If I’m called upon, I’ll repeat that same message.”

His boys still call home regularly to check in with the man who turned both on to the coaching profession years ago and the mother who has handled everything behind the scenes for decades in a highly competitive, sports-crazed family — with all the routine sports clichés to show for it.

The Harbaugh brothers will become the first siblings to square off from opposite sidelines when their teams play for the NFL championship at the Superdome.

Not that they’re too keen on playing up the story line that has no chance of going away.

“Well, I think it’s a blessing and a curse,” Jim Harbaugh said Monday. “A blessing because that is my brother’s team. And also personally, I played for the Ravens. Great respect for their organization. … The curse part would be the talk of two brothers playing in the Super Bowl and what that takes away from the players that are in the game. Every moment that you’re talking about myself or John, that’s less time that the players are going to be talked about.”

Both men love history, just not the kind with them making it.

“I like reading a lot of history. … I guess it’s pretty neat,” John Harbaugh offered Monday. “But is it really going to be written about? It’s not exactly like Churchill and Roosevelt or anything. It’s pretty cool, but that’s as far as it goes.”

Leading up to Sunday’s games, parents Jack and Jackie said they would wait to decide whether to travel to New Orleans if both teams advanced or stick to what has been working so well — watching from the comfort of their couch in Mequon, Wis.

Jim figures they won’t possibly miss this history-making game.

“I think they’ll be there,” he said with a smile.

The brothers, separated in age by 15 months, have taken different paths to football’s biggest stage.

The 49-year-old Jim never reached a Super Bowl, falling a last-gasp pass short during a 15-year NFL career as a quarterback. The 50-year-old John never played in the NFL but worked his way up from the bottom of the coaching ranks.

Still, both will tell you, “Who’s got it better than us? Nobody!” — one catchphrase they got from their dad.